Local communities prepare for increase in Marcellus shale drilling

Saturday

The Beaver County area has yet to contribute more than a few drops to the river of natural gas flowing from the Marcellus shale beneath Pennsylvania's surface, but a small current may soon surface.

Beaver, Lawrence and Allegheny counties were granted five of the 3,314 Marcellus shale drilling permits issued in Pennsylvania in 2010, and accounted for two of 1,446 new wells, according to Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources.

But the first two months of 2011 have produced a stronger pulse from the Marcellus shale shelf in the area. Consider:

•An Ohioville site received permits for four new wells on Feb. 18.

•Sites in Ohioville and South Beaver Township are under consideration for permits.

•A site in Little Beaver Township, Lawrence County, received permits for one well on Feb. 11 and four wells on Feb. 17.

•Permits have been issued for five sites in Allegheny County (three in Plum, and one each in Elizabeth and Glassport), meaning the three-county area in 2011 has nearly tripled its permit total of 2010.

Since 2007, Beaver County has been issued 17 drilling permits, encompassing sites in Franklin Township, Marion Township, Independence Township, Hanover Township, Ohioville and South Beaver. The only well that has been drilled is in Marion.

"It's just a matter of time (before drilling accelerates)," Brighton Township Manager Bryan Dehart said. "Obviously, there is Marcellus shale underneath our county, the whole county, and we expect there to be more drilling."

State Rep. Jesse White, D-46, Cecil Township, earlier this month encouraged communities in his district, which includes Hanover and Frankfort Springs, to create a "municipal co-op program" that would allow them to employ a "natural gas employment officer" who would monitor drilling and enforce local ordinances.

"We're starting to see more and more municipalities adopting gas ordinances, but those ordinances may be ineffective if you don't have the right experts or officers in place to enforce the law," White said.

Brighton and Hopewell Township in Beaver County, and Bell Acres in Allegheny County, are among communities preparing ordinances to deal with the Marcellus shale presence. Bell Acres will hold a public hearing on March 14.

"I think eventually it will be here, no doubt, somewhere in the township, and we want to do what we can to be prepared," Dehart said.

"We know its coming," Hopewell Manager Andy Brunette said. "When it comes, we have to be prepared."

Brighton held a public hearing on its proposed gas drilling ordinances on Feb. 14, but did not pass the ordinance. Dehart said the township anticipates another hearing in two months.

"It's a somewhat complicated process to satisfy everyone involved," he said. "A lot of people don't have any issues with it, but there are others that do."

Dehart said that while state agencies regulate the mechanical functions of drilling, townships can regulate zoning.

Brunette said ordinance proposals have been passed back and forth between supervisors and the township solicitor and may not be formally adopted until summer.

"We definitely feel we have a responsibility to protect our roadways and our water systems," Brunette said.

White said the need to be prepared is essential.

"The natural gas industry is here to stay, so we have to be thinking about how everyone can co-exist."

Bill Utterback can be reached online at butterback@timesonline.com.

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